BANGALORE: Undeterred
by the slowdown bogging the Indian information technology (IT) sector,
the Software Technology Parks of India-Bangalore (STPI-B) on Friday reported
a combined (hardware and software) turnover of Rs 10,742 crore for the
financial year 2001-02.

Software exports
from the State also was above the industry rate of 29 per cent, to post
33 per cent growth in fiscal 2002 to touch Rs 9,903 crore. Hardware exports
went up by 128 per cent to touch Rs 839 crore.

STPI-B, which had
set a target of Rs 11,000-crore exports for 2001-2002 had later revised
it to Rs 10,000 crore by June 2001. For the current financial year (2002-03),
the State has set a growth target of 40-45 per cent.

"This is the
highest among the software growth centres in the country. The entry of
foreign equity companies into Karnataka during slowdown demonstrates the
need of India much more than what they were earlier. What we have projected
is an achievable target, with IT-Enabled Services (ITES) joining the bandwagon,"
STPI-B Director B V Naidu told mediapersons in Bangalore.

During the year under
consideration, 110 companies were registered with STPI in the State with
a combined investment of Rs 1,383 crore, taking the total number of companies
registerd in Karntaka to 1,038 companies.

Interestingly, more
than 60 per cent of the new companies are foreign equity companies, which
invested Rs 892 crore, followed by 36 per cent small and medium enterprises
(Rs 208 crore) and 5 per cent major Indian companies (Rs 283 crore). Most
of the companies have set up base in Bangalore.

STPI-B Joint Director
B Mahesh said foreign equity companies invested around 60 per cent of
the capital and its earnings were also around 60 per cent.

SMEs earned 39 per
cent, while major Indian companies had 13 per cent. The major exports
were to North America (69 per cent), Europe (21 per cent), West Asia (5
per cent) and Japan (3 per cent).

Segment-wise, most
of the revenue came from application software (37 per cent) followed by
telecom software (18 per cent), system software (17 per cent), embedded
software (7 per cent), IC design (6 per cent) and ITES (5 per cent).

Though there was
no significant change in the number of companies in the turnover bracket
of Rs 100-1,000 crore, which remained steady at 13, and Rs 1,000 crore
and above at 2, there had been a significant increase in the Rs 1-10 crore
bracket and Rs 10-100 crore bracket.

While the number
of companies in Rs 1-10 crore went up from 189 to 246, the number of companies
in the Rs 10-100 crore segment went up from 66 to 95.

Mysore STP revenue
grew by 30 per cent from Rs 30 crore to Rs 39 crore and it added two companies
to its tally of 24. Mangalore STP grew by 45 per cent from Rs 167.14 crore
to Rs 242.52 crore and it added one firm making it 13.

The electronics hardware
exports were Rs 838.09 crore up from Rs 367.14 crore marking a 128 per
cent growth. Exports to the US accounted for 38 per cent, Europe 33 per
cent, Asia 22 per cent and Japan 6 per cent.

"We have seen
the positive side of the slowdown. There is stability in the salary of
the IT professionals. Senior officials are not job-hopping. People have
started to concentrate on Japan and Korea, instead of the US. They are
keenly watching China and the Philippines to leverage on their competitive
advantage," Naidu added.